“Increasing the size of pictorial warnings from 55 percent to 85 percent will help create greater awareness of the harms of smoking, reduce the number of smokers, prevent youth from starting, enhance public health, and in the long run save on health care costs,” added Laurent.

The tobacco industry is expected to strongly oppose implementation of the new warnings. In February the Thai Tobacco Trade Association (funded by industry giant Philip Morris) objected to the larger warnings in a letter to the Ministry of Health.